1954 Topps Baseball Cards Checklist & Values

No only did the 1954 Topps issue feature the rookie cards of some of the
greatest baseball players of all-time, it also was the 1st appearance of
Ted Williams on a Topps card. Topps was so proud of this they made
Ted the FIRST (#1) and LAST (#250) card in the set.

1954 Topps was released in three different series, (#1-50),
a tougher mid-series (#51-75), and finally (#76-250). Of note for fans
of variations, first series cards were issued in Canada with gray backs.

Some other ways to sell your baseball cards

Auctions are a very popular way to sell vintage sports cards.
My two reasons why:
#1 Desirable items tend to get top dollar (or better !)
#2 Everything goes
... This can be good - Everything gone, final total likely reasonably high
... or can be Very Bad - Everything gone, but at unexpectedly low prices

• Donate to charity for the tax write-off
Not selling but perhaps the easiest with still a possible return.
ASSUMPTIONS:
#1) You are one of the RARE tax payers left in America
#2) We are talking about mostly "junk" from late 1980's, early 1990's.
Consider keeping your better stuff for one of the sell options and donating
rest to charity. Tax deductions used to be based on lesser of what it cost
and "What-it-is-Worth". For the "What-it-is-Worth" part I use Beckett which
usually turns out to be higher than what you paid. Check with your tax guy.

Link below is a TurboTax discussion on donations.
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3372284-are-trading-card-donations-deductible-if-so-how-much

Auction's most costly vintage baseball cards

The history of vintage baseball card auctions is long and colorful.

The T-206 Honus Wagner tobacco card has sold for upto $2.8 million in
auction. Called the "Holy Grail of Sports Cards", to me it's extreme-high
auction value can mostly be attributed to great PR and "auction fever".
It's not close to being the rarest baseball card and Honus Wagner is not
Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle. Yes, the T-206 set is beautiful &
special but because of it's size and scarcities, not many collector's ever
try to complete, which should keep auction competition way down compared
to say 1933 Goudey or 1952 Topps baseball card issues.
BUT IT DOES NOT...

There's a story Wagner banned his card because he was anti-tobacco
but there are other stories about financial considerations.

You likkely have heard of PSA and may even know that this card was the
FIRST they ever graded. But did you know dealer (B.l. .ast.o) admitted
tampering with the card, perhaps trimming it down to size, before
PSA graded it so highly for the auction.

Like all collectibles, some sports cards increase in value and a few can become very valuable.
Determining a card's value is based on a number of factors including the popularity
of the player, the card's scarcity, it's condition, and demand among collectors.
A card can be scarce but if there's no demand for it, it's value may not be to great.

Q: What are some of the ways to collect cards ?
There are several different ways to collect cards. For example, you can try to
collect all the cards in a given set. Or you can focus on cards of your favorite
team or even just your favorite player.

Some people only collect Rookie cards while others only collect cards of
Hall-of-Famers. Because of the high cost of vintage sports cards today a growingly
popular way to collect sportscards is "Type Collecting".

"Type Collecting" is collecting just one of each "type" (or different issue) made.
To keep costs down, on some of the scarcer more expensive issues you can simply
add a less expensive "common" to your collection. While on more common or recent
issues you can select your favorite player or a card from your favorite team.